1000 Grandmothers for Peace

Singing Don Willis’ original arrangement of Holly Near’s song, “A Thousand Grandmothers”, the Emandal Chorale entered the Willits Frontier Days Parade on July 4, 2012. We invited grandmothers to join us, carrying pictures of their grandchildren, to create peace in the world and in our community. We walked, sang, and touched the hearts of many onlookers. Watch the video here!

If you would like to create a similar event in your community, contact us and we will send you our arrangement. Together we can make peace!

Why We Sing

I sing because no matter how tired I am, or if I am in a “down” mood, music gives me energy and makes me feel more positive. I carry the melodies of the songs we sing with me all week, in between our rehearsals, and it helps music be a part of every day of my life.

Ann

Singing with the Emandal folks gives me my Oxytocin high. Oxytocin is the feel good connecting hormone released when breastfeeding, and also when folks, men and women make music together. Hearing my voice and the harmonizing voices around me, I feel happy, relaxed, and I belong!

Mary

For my mind, the challenge and rewards of learning new pieces,
For my body, the joy and exhilaration of feeling music move through me as an instrument,
For my soul, creating harmonies with friends and community.

Wendy

Because I live with chronic illness and can feel isolated at times, Emandal allows me to feel connected to community in ways I might not feel otherwise, connected by joy – you might say it’s part of my health regimen!

Maluma

I love the feeling of being bathed in harmony, and singing all the variety of songs Don brings us. It’s fun to sing in different languages, and to learn rhythms and steps. And it’s wonderful to be a part of a group, cooperating together to do something beautiful and meaningful. I always leave our rehearsals feeling uplifted.

Helen H.

When I sing with Emandal Chorale, I come out of my quiet, singing self and am seen and heard as part of a group. As a quiet person, this feels more comfortable and makes singing in public more enjoyable. I’m grateful that Emandal Chorale accepts singers of all levels, with no judgement.

Dobbe

I love to sing with Emandal because it’s so much fun!

Beth

Singing in this choir is a totally uplifting and energizing experience for me. Sometimes it brings aspects out of me I haven’t been in touch with for a long time. But the best is to feel that I am part of a bigger whole and to experience how powerful we are when each voice counts.

Doris

I sing because it spiritually lifts me singing with our choir. Plus, it is “just fun!”

Jane

I’ve been singing since I was very young. I was told I had a gift to sing and as a child I believed it. Music is my meditation. Singing touches my spiritual heart. I feel awaken and renewed each week after rehearsal. It bring me joy and happiness. Emandal is a wonderful community of singers.

Judith

Why do I sing?
When a gift is given, I say thank you and YES!

Linda

I sing because it is in my bones. I have been singing all my life; as a child I expressed many moods through singing; and still song pours out of me on many occasions, a wonderful and clear message of what’s inside. There is an inner resonance for everything in this world.

Pat

Singing in the chorus is way better than singing in the shower! In addition to the joy of song, I enjoy the camaraderie of a positive-thinking and loving group of people. My spirit soars!

Sharon

I grew up loving to sing, but had a music teacher that was very shaming. I stopped singing when I was 10. Being part of Emandal has allowed me to find my voice and recapture the joy of singing for myself and as part of a wonderfully affirming and accepting group of fellow singers.

Jed

To fill myself with music and to hear that music blending and reverberating throughout a room or hall—is about as transcendent an experience as I think I’m likely to have on this good earth. There is simply little to compare to the communion of song.

Armand

When I was a child, music surrounded me as my parents harmonized their favorite songs when we traveled on long trips or washed dishes every night. Between then and now have been many life experiences which negated my voice, and I stopped singing. Christmas 2011 I promised myself I would find my voice again.

Earlene

Singing is a microcosm of human relationships. It involves giving and receiving, individuality and community. Each of us does our own part and together, listening to each other, we harmonize. Choral singing, especially music that is heart-felt and meaningful, is a model for how all people and nations could peacefully and respectfully co-exist.

Madge

It is not worth singing for ourselves; it is nicer if two people sing together. Then more people: hundreds, thousands, until the huge Harmony can be heard, in which we can all be just one, indeed. Then will we be able to say: ‘May the whole world be happy!’”- Zoltán Kodály, 1937

Elizabeth

Harmonizing with a group, skillfully led, achieves a sound impossible to attain any other way. It is glorious, fulfilling and enjoyable to release that sound into the Great Beyond for the benefit of all sentient beings.

John

For me singing is a joyful, moving and spiritual experience. Singing with Emandal in unity with other singers for me could best be described in the words,”I hear the music sounding in my ear, How can I keep from singing?” from an old Quaker hymn.